Weekly Steps of Activism

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The election of Donald Trump as the next President of the United States is a scary and horrific thing for many of us. He and his cabinet, full of unqualified and unsuitable candidates, threaten civil rights, voter rights, climate control, health care, public education, social security, the first amendment, foreign relations, free press, and the values of most good and decent people everywhere. We must resist his actions to destroy the fabric of democracy and the security of our citizens. In an effort to do that, each week I share some acts of resistance and steps of activism you can take. Here are this week’s:

There’s such a dizzying amount of acts to resist, people to call, and ways to organize that it can feel overwhelming (on top of the already overwhelming bad news we’re up against). To help, there are a bunch of websites, apps, and Facebook pages you can follow that give you tips, quick daily action steps, the names and phone numbers of people you should be calling based on what’s of most importance to you, as well as scripts to use. I’ve shared a few already that I use, but I will include those again here in my top favorites. Hopefully, you’ll find them as useful as I do:

Indivisible Guide
This is a must-read guide for anyone interested in resisting the Trump agenda and administration. It’s written by former congressional staffers who know wtf they’re talking about. There’s a brand new tool here to help publicize local group meetings or find a group you can join.

5 Calls
This is a site that eases the daily confusion over whom to call about what. Simply enter your zipcode and you’re given several topics to choose from, prioritized by importance, the names and numbers of people to call, as well as scripts. The goal is to make five calls a day. It takes about five minutes. Do it. You can also subscribe to weekly email alerts from 5Calls.

We Are the 65
Each week, a call to action is posted. I often re-post here what I think are the most important calls, but bookmark out the site and check it regularly yourself!

DailyAction.org
All you have to do is text the word DAILY to the number 228466 (A-C-T-I-O-N). You’ll be prompted to enter your ZIP code and that’s it—you’re signed up. You will subsequently receive one text message every workday about an issue that is determined to be urgent based on where you live.

Countable.us
This is free app that makes it quick and easy to understand the laws being considered federally and locally. You can use Countable to:

Read clear and succinct summaries of upcoming and active legislation.
Directly tell your lawmakers how to vote on those bills by clicking “Yea” or “Nay”.
Follow up on how your elected officials voted on bills, so you can hold them accountable in the next election cycle.
Countable is available for free online, on iOS, and Android devices.

In addition, here again is a list of retailers that are currently selling Trump merchandise. Consider sending them an email asking them to stop selling Trump stuff.

One of my senators voted FOR every. single. cabinet nominee, including DeVos. And that kind of garbage is why I get discouraged in my activism. He gets re-elected every single time because he’s been in office forever and ever, and the only hope of things changing is if/when he stops being immortal, basically. UGH.

And my action today: to ask my parents if they call their senators/representative and encourage them to do so every day. I might not have representation in Congress, but they certainly do, and they’re in a Republican state/district. I think a lot of my extended family already does this as they’re very civically-minded, but it never hurts to ask!